RIVERSIDE: Ethics complaint filed against Councilman Mac Arthur

A resident’s ethics complaint against Riverside City Councilman Chris Mac Arthur contends he failed to act on three incidents of alleged misconduct by his legislative aide.

Dvonne Pitruzzello, a frequent critic of the city and former candidate for mayor, filed the complaint against Mac Arthur in October. A special city panel will hear the complaint Thursday, Dec. 13.

The complaint describes incidents in August and October in which Pitruzzello alleged that Chuck Conder, Mac Arthur’s aide, made rude remarks and a vulgar gesture toward women after they spoke at public meetings.

Conder declined to comment on the complaint, and Mac Arthur said only that he is “looking forward to the hearing and the adjudicating body’s process.”

The complaint alleges that Mac Arthur’s inaction amounted to failure to create trust in local government, treat people with respect, and affirm the value of diversity, which are values described in the city ethics code.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Dec. 4, Pitruzzello said Conder used foul language about three other women who criticized a plan to redraw council ward lines at an August meeting.

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At an October City Council meeting, Pitruzzello questioned why police weren’t called during an earlier incident in which she said Conder “held a knife to the throat of Mark Earley, legislative aide to Councilman William “Rusty” Bailey, and threatened him,” according to her complaint. Earley could not be reached for comment Friday, Dec. 7.

Pitruzzello did not witness either of those events and was told about them by others.

After speaking at the council meeting, Pitruzzello said, she was walking up the aisle of the council chambers when Conder “put his (middle) finger up towards his face in an obscene gesture …. I said to the council, ‘Chris, your aide is flipping me off. How intelligent is that?’”

City Human Resources Director Rhonda Strout confirmed a personnel complaint was made against Conder and that he was placed on administrative leave in April while the complaint was investigated. It was determined to be unfounded and he returned to work, she said. Strout would not disclose the nature of the complaint or who made it, saying it is confidential personnel information.

The special ethics panel, made up of the heads of five city boards and commissions, may find it challenging to decide whether Mac Arthur should have taken any action because they won’t be investigating the allegations against Conder.

City Attorney Greg Priamos said the panel’s job is only to evaluate whether Mac Arthur violated the ethics code, and not to determine whether Conder did anything wrong.

This is not the first ethics complaint to be made over alleged conduct that the complainant didn’t witness firsthand, but it is the first time someone has tried to hold an elected official accountable for the actions of a city employee. All previous complaints against council members have been over actions attributed to the council members themselves.

Pitruzzello also complained about the alleged knife incident to the state Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Occupational Safety and Health. According to documents provided by Pitruzzello, the city told the state agency it is not aware of any incidents of workplace violence that had not been investigated and followed up with appropriate corrective action, if any.

The state was ready to close the case, but in a Nov. 28 letter, Pitruzzello asked for an independent investigation. Department of Industrial Relations spokesman Peter Melton said Friday that the case remains open and the department will investigate further.

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